CHICOPEE — Mayoral candidate Richard J. Kos is asking the City Council to delay voting on a proposed contract for department heads until after the November election.

The council has briefly discussed the proposal, which calls for it to grant raises ranging from $3,477 to $10,000 to employees, then sent the issue to its finance subcommittee for further deliberation.

The finance meeting is scheduled for Sept. 12 and the issue is scheduled for a vote Sept. 19.

“I have requested that the City Council delay action on the mayor’s proposal for certain salary increases until a determination is made by the voters in November about who will lead the next city administration beginning in January. Any proposal to significantly increase salaries within sixty days of an election, may have wide ranging fiscal, administrative and management implications for whoever is chosen by the voters to lead the city’s next administration,” Kos said in writing several days after the meeting.

“It would not be fiscally prudent to consider the mayor’s pay raises at this point in time, nor is it fair to the residents and taxpayers,” he said.

In a subsequent interview, Kos declined to give his opinion about the proposed salary increases themselves, saying his statement stands by itself.

The Chicopee Professional Municipal Employees union represents 14 employees, but the contract proposal also covers several department heads who have individual contracts with the mayor. Those positions, which include the city solicitor and human resource director, would mostly follow the same salary scale and working conditions.

The proposal was created after a task force studied salaries of department heads and determined nearly most were low compared to similar communities. It set a pay scale for the employees based on responsibilities and education, and increased salaries to fit into that scale.

Mayor Michael D. Bissonnette supports the new pay scale, saying competitive salaries help the city hire and keep the best employees.

In the past, raises were given based on politics rather than skills or experience, leaving salaries to vary widely, he said. “This proposal is fair, does not raise taxes and represents needed salary adjustments,” he said.

Bissonnette disagreed with Kos, saying department heads have not seen raises in six years and had already agreed to wait until the task force finished its study.

“We don’t stop dealing with the people’s business because Richard Kos decided he wanted to come back and be mayor,” Bissonnette said. Kos served as mayor previously from 1997 to 2004.

Bissonnette said he is anxious to debate the merits of the raises and other issues with Kos.

Many city councilors have said department heads deserve raises, but some aired concerns about the amounts. Several also objected to including non-union employees with union members.

Councilor Dino A. Brunetti said he is opposed to the raises that will, in some cases, increase salaries by 15 percent and said the salary study did not have enough details.

“I think the raises proposed by the mayor are excessive and are an insult to Chicopee taxpayers. As families continue to struggle to pay their bills in a difficult economy, the mayor wants to hand out raises to department heads and his appointees like candy on Halloween,” he said.

Lawyer Stephen J. Buoniconti, who represented the union, said it is the council’s call on when to act on the contract. He said he will stay focused on providing requested information.

“We negotiated a fair contract for the city and for us,” Buoniconti said. “Under the contract my employees are not susceptible to whims of the political world.”